The Idiocy of Love
by Hufflepuffilin710
Summary: "Love is just a figment of our imaginations, passion that's spiraled out of control, caring that's gone too far. But caring isn't the same as liking, and liking isn't the same as loving." "Alright Miss Pessimist." "I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist." "I think I'm in love with you." "Well stop!"


Alice Longbottom II was considered strange. She wasn't obsessed with all of the things most girls her age were, yet she didn't like the things the boys liked and wasn't a tomboy, like her best friend Rose was. She was more off in her own world, like her godmother Luna.

She was like her godmother in many ways, she was always exploring, and searching and finding things that many people didn't believe existed. Because of this fact, she was considered strange.

Whenever Alice turned twelve, her parents thought it would be best if she got away from England, and went to a school that would teach her to be, as her mother so lovingly put it, normal. So it was decided that Alice would go to Beauxbatons, the top wizarding school in France, whilst her twin brother, Frank, went to Hogwarts, the top wizarding school in England.

Because Alice would not be going to Hogwarts with her brother, as well as most of the Weasley and Potter family (which was particularly upsetting, because Rose Weasley was her closest friend, although Rose would not be going to Hogwarts just yet, she was actually going to be first year after that year, but it was upsetting all the same), she gave both of them (her brother and Rose) both heartfelt goodbyes, and promised to owl them everyday, as well as visit them whenever breaks were permitted.

After she wished her friends, and her brother goodbye, her parents apparated her to the airport, where the plane that would take her to the academy was waiting. She said goodbye to them as well, and told them she would owl them whenever she could, because she figured sending three owls everyday to four different people would be extremely difficult, and she told them she would be on her best behavior.

She boarded the plane to see many girls, some of which were already conversing with one another, and she checked her plane ticket to see which seat she would occupy. She found the seat, and she sat down in it, taking out her book, hoping that the person next to her might consider talking to her, so she didn't feel strange like she had for so many years.

It was a while before anyone decided to take the seat next to Alice, but Alice didn't notice, for she was so caught up in her book. The girl sitting next to her didn't seem to notice though, and introduced herself, getting Alice's attention. "Hullo, I'm Libby." The girl said, holding out her hand for Alice to shake.

Alice took the hand in her own. "Alice." She greeted. Not knowing how to start a conversation with a stranger she decided to start out simply. "Where are you from?"

"Scotland." Libby said, playing with one of her blonde pigtail braids. "You?"

"England. Although I did live in Dublin for a while, because my mum's family lived there, but my dad didn't like it very much, and my mom decided it would be better not to be so close to relatives, because it was too frustrating." Alice said, shaking her head at herself for sharing too much with the stranger.

"My parents hate Dublin too, although I've no idea why. I love it there. It's so beautiful. Most people don't like the crowded cities, but I love them. The lights, the people, the music. What's to hate?" Libby asked, seeming to be okay with sharing information about herself as well.

"L like cities as well, but not the people so much. My mum owns a pub, so I see many interesting people, I've met enough people." Alice said, as Libby chuckled to herself.

"I'd love it if my mum owned a pub, both of my parents are realtors." Upon Alice's confused look she added, "Muggles." She acted as if it were a bad thing, and truly she didn't know if it was or wasn't, she didn't know much about the wizarding world and it's prejudices.

"I love muggles. I wish I knew more about them, but we live in a wizarding neighborhood, I live next to the Potters and Weasleys." Alice added, trying to make Libby look less uncomfortable.

"The Potters? I think I've read about them somewhere-"

"Everybody knows about the Potters." A cold voice cut Libby off.

Alice looked around Libby, because she was in the window seat and Libby was blocking her view of the aisles. She saw a girl, looking about the same age as them, her dark brown hair, almost black, in a half up half down, tied with a big blue bow. "Harry Potter, the orphan who lost his parents before he could even talk, how sad. He was raised by his abusive aunt and uncle, muggles. Then he saved the wizarding world from the worst villian we've ever heard of, Voldemort." She said with an air of disgust.

"Do you not like the Potters?" Alice asked, not feeling particularly defensive of them. Mr. Potter and his wife were her mum and dad's mates in school, but Alice had a particular dislike of the eldest Potter, James Sirius, his entire demeanor was arrogant and cocky.

"I think they're getting too much attention for something that happened by chance. You do know that Neville Longbottom could've just as well been the chosen one, don't you?" She asked them, as if they were imbeciles.

"Neville Longbottom is my dad. And no, I didn't know that." Alice responded, pondering the fact that her father could have been the one with the lightning bolt scar across his forehead.

"Really? You would've figured he would've told his own kid something. But, that shouldn't worry you, Au revoir!" She said cheerily, and with a flick of her blue skirt, the uniform for the school, she was off to another seat.

"I don't think I like her very much." Libby said, turning back to Alice.

"Neither do I. But we mustn't worry about that now, we should change into out school clothes. Wouldn't want to get in trouble on the first day." Alice responded, as the plane took off.

* * *

Some hours later, although it felt like an eternity to Alice and Libby, they were exiting the plane and heading towards a brilliant looking palace. "Is this really where we're going to school?" Libby asked disbelievingly. Alice was also awestruck by the beauty of the palace, so all she could do was nod.

They entered the school, to be greeted by a very pretty redhead, who was looking at all of them, which seemed to be hard for since she was rather short, she had to stand on her tiptoes to see the children in the middle of the large group of students, and couldn't even catch a glimpse of the ones in the back.

"Welcome first years, to Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. I'm your charms teacher, Miss Beaumont, and I will be explaining to you everything that goes on here, because you must be confused. But before we do that, we must have the sorting." She started walking into the school. "You will each go into a room, shoot an arrow, and that arrow will burst into sparks. The color of the sparks determines your house, Bellefeuille is green, people in this house are often considered brave and loyal, and tend to have a love of nature. Ombrelune is grey, they're known to be cunning, logistic, curious, as well as ambitious. Finally the last house is Papillonlisse, he color is purple and they're known to be kind, artistic, and idealistic. So," She stopped suddenly at a silvery door. "Who's first?" She asked as she checked her clipboard.

"Libby Adelman." Libby awkwardly approached the door and opened it with an encouraging push from Miss Beaumont. Then she closed the door.

It was several minutes before Libby stepped out of the room, a wide smile plastered on her face. "Bellefeuille." She said quietly, then proceeding to stand by Alice.

"Well that's wonderful! I was in Bellefeuille you know. Wonderful house, actually..." She went on and on about her house, before the girl with the blue bow, interrupted her.

"Are we actually going to sort anyone else today?" She asked, rather rudely some might add.

"Oh, yes, erm.." She flipped through her clipboard, trying to hide the noticeable blush that had spread across her face. "Colette Anderson." The girl with the blue bow stepped forward, opened the door, stepped inside and closed it.

Colette came out much earlier than Libby did, not even a minute, and she had a look that resembled James Potter's, arrogant. "Ombrelune." She said with an air of superiority.

"Wonderful." Miss Beaumont said stiffy, before reading off more names, and sharing stories when they were sorted, but Alice wouldn't know, because she zoned out.

"Alice Longbottom." Miss Beaumont read off cheerily, obviously having overcome the previous embarrassment.

Alice stepped forward and into the room, closing the door behind her. She took a moment to take in her surroundings, it was a plain room, white walls with nothing hung on them, and a plain hardwood floor with a silver bow and arrow in the middle. She walked towards them, confident, because she had taken archery lessons as a child and was rather good at it.

She drew back the arrow, and shot it. She watched it as it flew through the air, before it burst into purple sparks. Alice thought about it for a moment before remembering that purple was the color for Papillonlisse, the kind house.

She set the bow down, and exited the room. Without saying a word she made her way back to Libby.

"Well? What'd you get?" Miss Beaumont asked impatiently, her voice dripping with anticipation.

"Papillonlisse." She said, her voice barely above a whisper. She was feeling rather deflated because she and Libby weren't in the same house, but she assured herself that there were other nice people in Papillonlisse.

"That's great! Now… Addy Lovitz."

And the rest of the sorting went on, and Libby was assuring Alice that even though they weren't in the same house they would still be the best of friends. That statement was particularly sad, because it reminded her of Rose, and how she wasn't going to see her for a while, and that reminded her of Frank and how she wasn't going to see him for a while. And that made her feel lonely, but that didn't affect her much, she had always been lonely. And she accepted that.

* * *

After the sorting, all of the new students entered the dining hall, to be greeted by hundreds of girls in blue conversing loudly in French. However, the moment the students walked into the hall, everyone was silent.

"Bonjour new students, and old students." A tall women said from the front of the hall, once all of the new students were situated.

"I am your headmistress, Madame Maxime, and I would like to welcome you to Beauxbatons Academy. I would like you all to know that the forest near the edge of the grounds is restricted, and you cannot enter it as you please. But more of that later, right now, let us enjoy our wonderful feast!" With a wave of her hand trays upon trays of food appeared on the table, but no one seemed to be eating much.

"Why isn't anyone eating?" Libby asked Alice, because unlike Hogwarts, Beauxbatons had only one table, where people of all houses could coverage.

Instead of Alice, a girl who horned to have overheard responded. "We wouldn't want to ruin our perfect figure. We pride ourselves on how beautiful we are."

"Oh," Libby laughed nervously, "I don't think I'm hungry anymore."

" Me either." Alice said, putting her fork down.

* * *

After dinner, in which almost no one ate, every person went to their separate dorms. Alice said goodbye to Libby, promising that she would talk to her in the morning, before retiring to the Papillonlisse dormitory.

Upon walking into the room, she was greeted by four other girls. One who had dark skin and beautiful long hair, was brushing her hair at the vanity by one of the beds. Another girl, who had shoulder length brown hair, as well as a charming smile, was reading on her bed. The last two girls had red hair, which reminded Alice of Rose, and appeared to be twins, were braiding each other's hair.

"Hello, I'm Anne, and that's Ava." One of the redheads said, her Irish accent sticking out.

"And I'm Alice." She said timidly, taking the only bed that wasn't occupied, the one in the far left side of the room.

"Gwen." The one at the vanity said, while the one reading a book on the bed stayed silent. "And that's Taylor, but she's being antisocial, so don't mind her."

Alice reached into her trunk and grabbed her pajamas, feeling completely exhausted. She changed into them, in the bathroom of course, and headed straight to bed, where Ava, Anne, and Gwen already were. However, Taylor stayed in her bed, reading her book, completely oblivious to everything that was going on around her.

As Alice lay in her bed that night, she thought about how she had only made one friend, but that was more than she had ever made in one day, so she felt slightly uplifted. She also thought about how she missed Rose and Frank, but maybe not so much anymore.


End file.
